Potato Something Else

by Sheila Connolly

Have I mentioned that I'm title-challenged? My choice seldom makes it to the cover of a book. So I had no idea what to call this dish, but it tastes good anyway.

Okay, you’ve served the big meal to friends and relatives, and at the end of it all you find you have half a bowl of mashed potatoes left over. You’re too thrifty to throw them out, but there’s not enough left to stretch for another meal. If you work from home, you might just microwave them and eat them for lunch. What a thrill—not! 

 

A bonus picture--a peeler I
bought in Italy. It's a terrible
peeler, but it's so cute!

 

But! I have a recipe! You can use up your leftovers and have a tasty side dish! (Oh, all right, you can make new mashed potatoes to do this too. Or—gasp!—make them from a box.)

 

The leftover potatoes--not too exciting, eh?

 

3 cups of mashed potatoes

2 eggs

2 Tblsp melted butter

1/3 cup sour cream

1 heaping cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

2 tablespoons chopped chives or parsley

Salt and black pepper, to taste  

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a metal pan. 

If the potatoes have been refrigerated, let them come to room temperature. 

In a medium mixing bowl whisk the eggs, then mix in the sour cream. Stir in both cheeses (reserve a little for sprinkling over the top of the dish), the chives and/or parsley, and the melted butter. Add the mixture to the potatoes and mix well (it may end up a little lumpy, depending on the consistency of your potatoes, but it won’t affect the results—this is not a soufflé!). 

 

 

Spoon the mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese (you can dot the top with butter if you are so inclined). Bake 25- 35 minutes until the top is golden brown.  

 

Before...and after

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from the oven and let the dish cool 5 minutes in the pan. Top with sour cream if you like. 

I reduced this recipe by half (hey, there are only two of us eating it!) and it worked fine. You can experiment with different cheeses as well—I’ve been eyeing my goat cheese crumbles… 

This goes well as a side dish for a simple sautéed or broiled meat, like pork chops.

Two weeks on the New York Times bestseller list!

 

 

But you may not have heard that my ebook Relatively Dead is currently on the top 100 Amazon Ebook General list and the top 100 USA Today General list!